His Legacy Lives On
by tayababy
Summary: post 'Friendship One'. Joe actually dies...


_Hey everyone._

_I got the idea for this one shot after many PM's with Ancelin and her very many questions on my timelines and Joe Carey's existence. So, they brought me to this conclusion - a Friendship One episode add-on. Hence - the legacy lives on..._

Disclaimer: I hated Friendship One. Some other character should have been killed. Since Joe was, I reincarnate him in every other story. Not this one. Paramount still owns them, but that doesn't mean we can almost scream at the writers for the episode we don't agree with...

AN: This story was created in late December 2006. Inspiration sucks…

* * *

**His**** Legacy Lives On**

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Samantha Wildman had her head on the foot of a biobed in Sickbay. Joe's body had just been beamed back from the radiation-ridden planet, and there was nothing the Doctor could do to save him.

"No... no... no..." she sobbed, tears breaking the single-syllable words into manageable gulps.

"Samantha," came a familiar female voice from behind the sobbing stellar cartographer. Captain Kathryn Janeway had her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sam looked up into the eyes of her commanding officer and, most importantly, close friend. Nodding, she rose from the foot of the biobed, leaving the Doctor to repair his broken body for spacing.

Leading the sobbing woman to the Doctor's now deserted office, Kathryn expressed the deepest sympathy for the human woman.

Sitting down, Sam turned to the woman who was now an equal, for the time being. "We... we were both married, but that... that didn't stop us from... from being friends," she sobbed, tears and strained breaths punctuating her speech. "Then... then we got really close. I mean really, really close... Closer than anyone I ever knew, other than my... my husband. But even I was starting to forget him." The scientist was genuinely sad at the engineer's death, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Go on," the captain urged, though at this point in time she was really just there as a friend.

Sam drew in another deep breath before continuing.

"We... we would spend all our off duty time together, talking... talking about everyone we had left behind. And... and then, we grew even closer, closer than either of us would have liked to admit. So we... we slept together one night, and... and..."

She just couldn't go on, but Kathryn comforted her anyway.

It didn't take long for the younger woman to stop crying, but Janeway still didn't let go of her, hugging Samantha like there was no tomorrow.

"And what?" Kathryn urged, gently as not to force anything.

Sam drew in another large breath, then continued her story again.

"Last week, I found out I... I was pregnant, eight weeks, and I hadn't told Joe, not until this morning, right... right before he and Tom beamed down to the... the surface. He tried to get out of going, but... but I made him. I... I told him I would see him later, and... and we could talk about the baby when… when he got back..." Sam burst into tears again, this time letting them free fall from her eyes. "And when he came back, he was dead!"

Kathryn was forced to hug the woman tightly again in comfort, her story running through the various parts of her mind at warp speed. "What are you going to do about the baby?" she finally asked, hoping it would settle the normally-calm scientist enough to see her daughter.

Samantha looked in horror at her friend. "You... you aren't suggesting I... I _terminate_ this baby?"

"No, of course not!" Kathryn recovered quickly. "I would never suggest anything like that, Samantha, and you know it."

Sam Wildman let out an audible sigh, but hiccups of tears still rocked her fragile, pale body.

"I don't think I could raise it, every time I saw it I would think of how I lost Joe, but at the same time I couldn't terminate. I don't know what to do!"

Kathryn rocked to younger woman's body, holding her close to her own chest. "Shhh," she breathed, soothing her like a child. "I'll see what I can do. You never know, someone else might be willing to raise the baby for you, and after we return to Earth, someone else in either of your families might be willing to raise the child…" She trailed off, knowing Samantha would not like that option.

"NO!" she replied, true to instinct. "No one but this crew must know about the baby! After it's born, another family could adopt it and tell everyone it's their own, or something!"

Sam began to sob again, and this time the Doctor stepped in.

"Samantha, I know I can't bring him back, but would you like to know the sex of your baby, so you can stop referring to it as 'it'?"

Surprisingly enough, he had grown some compassion and was actually nice to Sam for a change.

"Really? You would do that for me?" she asked, a bewildered look opening up her eyes wider than they had been in a long time.

He smiled at her. "Of course I would. And better than that, I have just the couple in mind to adopt her."

Sam's head bounced up at the last word he said. "Her?"

"Yes, you're having a little girl."

She smiled widely at the announcement, and hugged her captain. "But who do you suggest will adopt her?" she asked.

The doctor shrugged. "Well, this couple haven't exactly come to terms with their relationship yet, but I think adopting your daughter will bring them together once and for all."

"Doctor, exactly who are you referring to?" Kathryn asked.

"You and Commander Chakotay," he answered simply. The captain looked shocked.

Samantha took the opportunity to interrupt. "Captain, I think that's a wonderful idea. Trust me when I say that you and the commander should have been together years ago! Everyone can see how much you care for each other, and when you finally admit your feelings, I'm sure the crew will accept you. Many of them have even been plotting to get you together anyway."

Kathryn smiled at the admission. "Remind me to thank Tom Paris in a few years, will you?"

* * *

_24 weeks_

Sam entered sickbay for her six month check up, and was surprised to see Naomi in there, assisting the doctor with some of his bio-medical experiments.

"Hello!" she called out, trying to draw their attention away from the specimens.

"Hi mum," her daughter called. "Are you here for Josie's check up?"

Sam had named the baby girl Josephine Kerrie not long after finding out her sex. Kathryn and Chakotay, her adoptive parents, loved the name, especially because she was named after her father in every way. Plus, little Josie's situation was what brought them together.

"Yeah, Naomi; let's see how she's doing."

The doctor brought a medical tricorder out of a storage compartment and scanned the developing baby bump intently.

"Well," he announces after finishing the scan. "Josie looks perfectly for a six-month old foetus. Just make sure you're taking your prenatal vitamins and start coming in for check ups every two weeks. I also want to have your duty shifts reduced by an hour each day, and if you have any pain or discomfort, lie down and rest immediately."

Sam nodded at the doctor's advice. "Certainly. Am I right to go now?"

He nodded. "Of course, see you next time."

* * *

_36 weeks, four days_

Sam couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, Josie just wouldn't settle. She seemed adamant in playing a very long game of soccer with her bladder, and the movement was making it impossible for her to sleep.

Sighing, she reluctantly rose out of bed and changed into her uniform. As soon as she had managed to dress herself, Sam exited the quarters she shared with Naomi and wandered to the mess hall.

Though it was almost 0200, there were a few people sitting in their social centre; the captain was one of those people.

"Mind if I sit here?" Sam asked, approaching Josie's adoptive mother.

Kathryn looked up and smiled. "No, not at all."

Samantha graciously at down in the comfortable armchair and sighed, "Can't sleep?"

Kathryn sighed in response. "No, and I'm assuming you can't either."

Sam laughed slightly. "No, Josie keeps playing soccer with my bladder and she won't stop moving. I'm lucky I only have four weeks left; being off duty for so long is making me restless."

Kathryn smiled again. "Did you want me to give you some light duties in Astrometrics or on the Bridge?"

"No, I don't think I could sit still. Maybe I should help in the airponics bay or something."

"Are you sure?" she asked again. "I could talk to the Doctor about working in Sickbay if you're that restless?"

Sam smiled back. "No, Kathryn, as much as I'd love to, I think she'll be here early."

Kathryn's kind face turned to a worried look at this statement. "Early?"

"Yeah, I think she's preparing to come out soon," Sam answered, but further response was prevented by a sharp pain across her abdomen. She winced noticeably.

"Are you okay?"

Sam waved the concern off with a light "I'm fine" and stood up. "I just need to walk it off, I've been getting them for the past few days."

However, as she began to walk away from the table, another sharp pain enveloped her, and she couldn't help doubling over.

Kathryn immediately rose from her seat. "No, you're definitely not okay. Let's get you to Sickbay now."

In her commanding tone, Janeway tapped her comm. badge and requested an emergency transport.

* * *

_Sickbay, 0242 hours_

Kathryn stood in the Doctor's office holding a bundle in her arms, Chakotay standing next to her.

"Hello Josie," she whispered to her tiny minutes-old daughter. "I'm your mommy, baby."

Deep down, Kathryn knew Josie would always be Sam's daughter, but circumstances forced her to take the baby under her wing before she was born. Even though her existence had brought her and Chakotay together permanently, she would always be a reminder of the man she was named after, the man who lost his life for their sake.

"Captain, you can see Sam now if you like," the Doctor interrupted her softly. "I need to examine Josie anyway."

Kathryn nodded silently, her eyes not leaving the baby's closed ones, and handed her over to the CMO. As she entered his arms, Josie opened her eyes for the first time.

They were a dazzling green. Just like her father's.

"He really does live on in her…"


End file.
